Dear Me,
by tobleroneo
Summary: We, she waited for effect, are going to write letters to ourselves! What? Are you on drugs, woman? COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1

Konoha seemed to be at peace at last; Sasuke was back (his welcome-wagon consisted of overly joyful females and one pissed kunoichi, guess who), Akatsuki had fallen in battle, Naruto was training to become Rokudaime, and Ino had Shikamaru.

Wait. WHAT?

Oh, right. Even though the sun was up and it was close to summer, everyone who passed the Yamanaka household felt chills. A dark aura surrounded the building, complete with some shouting and screaming. A few 'troublesomes' were heard among the shrieks. The citizens of the hidden village quickly passed the house. Mothers with children covered their kids' ears and hurried past. Shinobi were tempted to look inside, some ANBU knew better. Outside, the sky was clear and well. Inside, a storm was brewing.

Or, well, Ino.

"Nara Shikamaru!" Ino hissed at her fiance for the eight time that afternoon.

"No, Ino," mumbled said man, taking out the cigarette from his mouth and throwing it into the ash tray beside him.

The bride to be stomped her feet and slapped his head, hard. Shikamaru only groaned in pain; what was with her and slapping? Ino shoved the paper and pencil in his face, almost giving him a paper cut. Her face was red from the yelling, but her eyes were still the striking and determined baby blue eyes he always felt himself getting lost in. Her lower lip was slightly bruised from her biting it in fustration, and he wanted to do nothing but nurse it better in his own way. But it was too dang 'troublesome' to him.

"Ino, what is the point of this?" he sounded tired.

"Take the pencil and paper and I'll explain," she flashed him a bright smile. Having no choice, the Jounin accepted the objects knowing he was making a mistake.

Ino placed her own pencil and paper out onto the coffee table in front of them and turned to him.

"We," she paused for effect, "are going to write to ourselves."

"What?" Shikamaru asked in bewilderment. "Are you on drugs, woman?"

Ino rolled her eyes in irritation. "For a genius, you sure are dumb."

"For a kunoichi, you sure are troublesome."

"You think everything is troublesome," she smartly replied back.

"So, what are we doing?"

"I told you. We are going to write to our future selves. I read somewhere that you just write some things you want to say about your spouse and things you want to do in ten years, and after the ten years, you open up the letters and read each other's."

Shikamaru stared in disbelief at her. That was what she wanted him to do? Write a simple letter? After he endured her wrath, that was it? I fell back onto the couch, wishing for some clouds to stare at.

"Oh, come on! It will be fun. I told Hinata, and she and Naruto have already done it!"

He was already ahead of her. Pencil in his hand, he loathingly began to write.

Smiling, she started her own letter.

**Dear myself (Yamanaka Ino, or Nara Ino, I suppose) and Shikamaru,**

**So, I'm guessing a lot has happened in ten years, huh? Opening this letter may bring back lots of memories, I hope. Maybe, one day, I'll have my kids read the letters and do one themselves. If I even have any kids, that is. But you should know, seeing as you are ten years from now. Wow, that did not make any sense to me, so it probably doesn't make sense to you, too. Unless you, I mean I, have become smarter due to a smart husband. I WILL be marrying him, right? It's not like I'm going to have a panic attack, realize that Shikamaru's not the one at the altar and cancel the marriage, RIGHT?**

**Shikamaru, hon, if you're reading this, I do hope you take no offense to this. You've probably gotten used to my behavior by now. **

**You know, when I started dating you, I was in doubt. I mean, I've known you my whole life and being with you like that just felt... weird. But in a good way, of course. Sometimes I felt I wasn't good enough for you, and maybe Forehead girl would've been better for you. You guys would talk non-stop about intelligent things I wouldn't know about. Do you regret marrying me, Shikamaru? **

**When Asuma-sensei died, the whole team felt different. I see you at his grave every Saturday, talking to him, you know that? You aren't saying mean things about me, are you?**

**Things change in ten years. I just hope your feelings haven't. Maybe your feelings towards going to festivals should change, but I like- no, scratch that. LOVE you just the way you are. **

**Do you remember me saying I wanted to go on vacation to the Rain village? Did I get to do that, in these ten years? How silly of me to ask. Of course I would know, in then years, that is. I hear the hotsprings there are heavenly. What with the rain and all that jazz.**

**Future me, I've made a list of things I want me to do before ten years. I'm praying that I've succeeded in doing these tasks.**

**01. MARRY SHIKAMARU. (Because my life will not be complete without you, sweetie.)**

**02. Buy a new house. (Not that there is anything wrong with this house, but I think Daddy wants me to move out as soon as possible. And Shika, your apartment is horrible. Like Chouji's socks. So NO.)**

**03. Go on the vacation mentioned above. (Hopefully before I have children.)**

**04. Get to see Sasuke and Sakura in a physical fight in which Sasuke gets pummelled to the ground, because, well, he kindasorta deserves it.**

**05. Learn the Hyuuga's secret recipe to pasta. (Hey, Hinata...)**

**06. HAVE A KID. (Due to popular belief, some say I don't want any because of what might happen to my figure, but that is so not true! I love little kids.)**

**07. Get Shika to stop smoking! Enough said.**

**08. ...**

**I've run out of things. Darn! I guess that completes my letter. **

**Love with hugs and kisses,**

**INO**

**P.S. Future me, please tell me I got the shoes with the white bow I saw last weekend. I cannot live without them!**

_**I... had fun? **_

_**Feedback welcomed as always, muh dears!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Dear... Whoever,**

Here, Shikamaru paused for a while, staring at the two words he had produced then. He was never the writer, more the thinker. A nudge from Ino brought him back to the piece of paper in front of him.

**This is troublesome. Ino, how in the world did you finish this?**

**Nevermind.**

**What am I suppose to write, anyway? I could be smoking right now instead. Troublesome women and their weird thinking. Ten years? What is the point of this?**

**I tell you, whoever, you won't expect much in this letter. **

**Now I'm wondering how I even fell in love with a loud girl like Ino. And you (Ino) will probably be grinning and smiling at me right now, or glaring daggers for writing that. I meant it in a good way.**

**Hey, did Chouji get back in time for our wedding from that mission? He promised to be my best man. **

**I should really just get this stupid thing over with. Then take both letters and burn them when Ino's not looking. **

**A nice cigarette sounds good right about now.**

**And you're probably expecting some mushy gooshy stuff. You can forget it.**

**...**

**I love you, Ino.**

**Shikamaru**

**--**

"Here."

Looking up from a purple shoe box, Ino snatched Shikamaru's letter, placed it in a grey envelope and sealed it with a sticker. She then laid it into the box carefully, as if it was made of glass.

"I'll put these somewhere safe so no one can read them," she told him with a bright smile.

She lept up and ducked into her room, hiding the box underneath some blouses in her drawer.

"Okie dokie! Now, how about some lunch?"

--

Ino stared at him while he ate his noodles. A question was itching up her throat, and before she could stop herself she blurted out:

"What did you write about in your letter?"

Shikamaru stopped eating and sat up, facing her. He lifted an eyebrow as if asking, 'Ten years, remember?'

She waved her hands wildly, stuttering.

"B, but maybe a little information to just know what to expect-"

"No. I put too much effort in it to let it go to waste. Too troublesome."

"You hardly wrote anything! I know because your pencil stopped right at the middle of the paper!" she pointed accusingly at him. "I wrote so much, while you just thought of this as nothing!"

He sighed heavily, clearly exhausted with her antics.

"What is with that sigh? Huh, Mr. My-IQ-Is-Higher-Than-Yours?"

"Ino..."

"Hmph!" She crossed her arms and legs and turned away from him. So it was the stubborn game, eh? He could use the extra silence. He suddenly noticed everyone staring at them from Ino's outburst earlier. He knew what was going to happen: Some idiot would tell everyone that the engaged couple was over, and the wedding was off. Some other moron would exaggerate from that story and make it seem so tragic, like Ino was actually his sister or something like that. In his own words: How troublesome. He resumed eating, as he would know then the villagers would then ignore them.

Ino shifted in her seat. Shikamaru obviously never read the books she gave him (she wrote them herself). Rule Number eighty-two: When the man is at fault and the woman is ignoring him, he should always try to make it up to her. He, as she noticed, was doing nothing of that sort. She grimaced.

The time ticked by quickly. They had both sat there for two hours already, and the tension was strong between them. Any one coming close would suffocate from the anger produced from Ino. Sakura had tried talking to Ino once, and was quickly given an evil glare even Itachi would have payed for.

"I'm going home," the blond said, her movements as stiff as her words. She stood up, put some coins down onto the table and looked at Shikamaru one more time.

"Hmph."

He followed her all the way home.

--

She was fumbling with her keys to the house. Just why the heck did she have so many keys? A hand covered hers, stopping her cursing.

"What?" she snapped.

During the walk, he had thought it over his head. Being the genius that he was, he had two possible choices: Apologize and get it over with, or Let her be and never live a happy life. He knew if he chose the latter one, death would claim him soon and he sure didn't want that. The first one would get his ego get kicked down, but hey, it was too troublesome having one anway, so did it matter?

"Ino, look," he hesitated for a bit, then continuing, "I'm sorry for whatever I did, but you said ten years. So..."

"You're forgiven!" she kissed him on the cheek, leaving a faint, pink mark on it.

Ino forgave people easily, which was a surprise to most. It was totally the opposite of her personality. As long as they meant it, she was fine.

Shikamaru leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips, then leaned in more-

"Ahem."

Inoichi knew they were old enough and engaged, but it was still awkward to see his little girl to act like a woman.

"Oh, Daddy! Get over it!" Ino laughed, tugging Shikamaru in. "He's sleeping over!"

--

Ino sat on her bed, water dripping down onto the sheets. She just finished showering, and it was Shikamaru's turn. She looked around the room, eyes lingering on her drawer.

'Maybe... No. Ten years.'

Her hands slowly made their way to the handle.

'I _do_ need to organize my blouses...'

Forgetting about her clothes, she hastily opened the lid to the box only to find a note at the bottom.

**I had a feeling this would happen, so I hid them somewhere else. Don't even think about it, Ino. I'll tell you in ten years.**

**Shikamaru.**

How smart.

She smiled at the bathroom door and put the shoe box aside.

'Ten years it is.'

--

So it was ten years.

"Ma! Shio pushed me!" a crying five year old girl tugged at her mom's dress, pointing angrilly at her older brother who was walking into the kitchen.

"Honey, why did push Iso?" Ino's voice held a little amusement, completely missed by the younger sibling. Her appearance had changed a lot since ten years ago, her hair shorter than before and her face more motherly.

Shio, a blond haired seven year old boy grabbed a chocolate chip cookie from the counter and chomped on it. He finished swallowing before answering.

"She was being troublesome," he simply replied. So much like his father.

Iso sat down on the tiled floor and pouted cutely. "Okaa-san, punish him."

"Okaa-san, punish him," her brother mocked, complete with a pout too.

Ino sighed, knowing this would only end in a mess. She wished Shikamaru was home, but sadly he was on a mission and had yet to come back. Today was also a special day for them, because it was ten years from that day.

"Shio, just apologize and give her a cookie," a deep voice chuckled from the door way.

"Daddy!" Iso shrieked. She got up and hugged her father's leg.

"Dad!" Shio yelled in surprise due to Iso's shriek.

Ino grinned at the man before her. He had grown over time also; more of a father figure than a shinobi, his hair reluctantly cut shorter but still in a hair tie. Now, looking at him with their children beside him, she felt her heart soar. She felt _proud_.

"You're back."

"Well, it _is _a special day, isn't it?" he threw her a crooked smile of his own.

The kids looked at each other in confusion and simutaniously asked,

"Special day?"

The mother giggled.

"I know! It's my birthday, isn't it?" Iso yelled, still clinging onto Shikamaru's leg.

"Sweetie, your birthday is in April, remember? There's still two months!"

"Two months too long," the little girl mumbled, but everyone could still hear it.

Ino took two cookies from the china plate and held it to Iso.

"An early present, then."

She squealed in delight and snatched the cookies from her mother's hands with a thank you, sticking her tongue out at her older brother. He only sighed in response.

--

"Will you tell me?" she asked curiously. Ino was waiting patiently on their king sized bed, leaning against the head board. She watched as Shikamaru extracted two, thin envelopes from an old scroll Shikamaru had collected some time ago.

"You hid them there? But I just read that scroll two days ago!" she exclaimed.

Shikamaru let out a short laugh. "I moved them so you couldn't find them," he explained.

She mouthed an 'oh', then grabbed one envelope out of his hands.

"Read what you have first, then trade," she instructed.

Minutes passed as Ino read her letter, but Shikamaru only took a few seconds (they had both gotten their own). Once Ino was clearly done, they switched. A few sentences into Shikamaru's letter and Ino was twitching in amusement. Shikamaru read her letter carefully.

"Shika," she smiled sweetly. Too sweetly.

"Yeah?"

"Am I still troublesome?"

"Yes."

"But the kinds of troublesome you like, right?"

"Uh... sure."

Both letters flew into the air as Ino tackled Shikamaru into the bed, planting kisses all over his face. She stopped, looked him straight in the eye and leaned in. With their noses touching, she whispered something. It was like a shout to him, as it was always when she said it.

"I. Love. You."

"I. Do. Too." he muttered back.

--

"I still didn't get to buy those shoes."

...

**Ha! There, finished. I tried to make them seem in character, but hey. People change over time, right? **

**Something I just realized:**

**Shikamaru plus Ino equals Shino!**

**Wow.**


End file.
